Born and bred in Inverness, with a zoology degree from Aberdeen, I managed the reintroduction of Sea Eagles from Norway to Rum 1975 to 1985, for NCC, and remain on the UK Project Team as an independent. Moved to South Uist as Area Officer for SNH/NatureScot covering Uist, Barra and St Kilda 1992-2006. Retired to…
Tag: SNH
Guest blog – Response from the Saving Wildcats team
Dear Mark, Following a blog published on your website in January, we thought we should get in touch. We, Saving Wildcats, are a partnership project that aims to restore wildcats to Scotland through captive-breeding and release. We believe it’s our responsibility to address the inaccurate information within Dominic Woodfield’s guest blog. The Saving Wildcats project is the next…
Guest blog – Is it really too late to save the Scottish wildcat? by Dominic Woodfield
Dominic Woodfield is the Managing Director of Bioscan, a long established and well-respected consultancy specialising in applied ecology. He is not a wildcat specialist, but has significant experience of working with rare and protected species and is currently instructed by Wildcat Haven to advise on regulatory and ecological matters, including on the methodology for their…
Guest blog – Gull Rescue as a Non-lethal Solution by Kevin Newell
I am Kevin Newell owner and founder of Humane Wildlife Solutions we are Europe’s only non-lethal, ethical, environmentally friendly alternative to pest control. We help businesses and individuals all over Europe find solutions to wildlife conflicts without causing harm to the wildlife or the environment in the process. In the spring of 2020 coming out…
Wild Hacking licensed by SNH for 2020 – last minute decision?
Residents in Moray, close to where captive-bred falcons have been wild-hacked over recent years (under licence from SNH last year) received a letter today (dated yesterday) from the falconers involved informing the residents that ‘falcon training’ would start from approximately late June. The residents had no warning of this from SNH. I followed this up…
SNH and wild hacking – still no news
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SNH still hasn’t produced the review of wild hacking that they promised ahead of finalising any licensing decision.
Is it wild hacking time in Scotland – an SNH response
SNH are pretty helpful when it comes to answering questions of a media variety. Yesterday I asked them whether they had issued any licences for wild hacking in Scotland this year which they could have answered with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. I also said that I’d be interested in where they were with any…
SNH hands out non-toxic ammunition to goose shooters
This story about a Greylag Goose cull on Orkney caught my eye (largely because someone sent it to me – thank you!). I don’t know enough about the reasons behind the cull to comment on whether it is the least bit sensible but I was interested to see that the goose carcasses were to be…
SNH says ‘no’ to Strathbraan Raven cull
Raven. Photo: Tim Melling Excellent news from Raptor Persecution UK – SNH rejects 2019 licence application for Strathbraan Raven cull. That’s good news on which to end the week. Well done to Ruth Tingay and the Scottish Raptor Study Group for taking their challenge. I’m glad I contributed to their crowdfunder. But what are our…
BTO report being used by SNH to justify Raven culls
A BTO research report, which looks quite good to me, is being used, wrongly, by SNH to justify further Raven culls. The report, essentially, says that killing a few Ravens won’t make any difference to the Scottish Raven population level. That is certainly true (and I give you that finding freely – no charge!). However,…